Gonzo59

Thanks for the reading material Sascha! It's really helping.

Looks like I have another subject to be researching! lagoon tanks!

It's Gonzo a play on my last name that no one can pronounce. I was planning on macro algae, chaeto, that I was going to put in the sump that has the bioballs or LRR. I don't think I have room for a clunky UV filter in this little guy but I didn't think about carbon being ineffective. Why do you think it wouldn't work?

And thank you for the greetings. Happy to be here.

Great! I am feeling a lot more confident about undertaking this conversion; although I will definitely miss my yellow lab, clown loach and plants.

I will will post more as soon as the project is underway!

Also when ya'll are talking about scrubbing everything, do ya'll just mean bare scrubbing with a brush or finding a aquarium safe soap to really wash it?

What's yall's opinions on LiveSand? My friend who convinced me to go SW thinks its overrated.

By disappeared and not being reef safe. Do you mean it burrowed into the coral? I've actually seen a lot about crabs disappearing because they weren't reef safe on these forums I just don't understand how they can disappear AND still be destructive.

I'm sorry if this is obnoxious, but I'm not familiar with the lingo yet. what does "LFS, LR, RODI and PC" mean?

Also I am planning on switching them out pretty soon just still figuring out what direction to go. I think they should be fine for the cycle stage right?

Hi I'm planning on converting my 14g Biocube to sw. I'm a little overwhelmed on where to start; I am taking the fish to a shop in NW Austin who offered to buy them on Friday. Other than that though I'm not sure where to start. Do I use the water that I already have and add salt, then start its cycle, or do I completely scrap the water and buy/mix more? Do I wait till a certain point in the cycle to put live rock in or put it in right in the beginning? What substrate would you recommend?

My future plans for it are mexican turbo or nerite snails, hermit crabs, emerald crabs, scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp and eventually a pair of ocellaris and and an anemone... and of course coral!

Pictures of the setup are posted below; let me know if ya'll have any ideas for changes to the setup or livestock lineup; also the middle compartment contains bioballs if that makes a difference to anyone.

Thanks for any input!

Gonzo

Welcome to ARC.

A small pair of clowns like Ocellarius should be fine in your 14G tank. What kind of shrimp did you have in mind? Does your biocube have compartments in the back? For such a small tank a sump can be an unnecessary expense. If you manage your food in and limit your bioload, IMO, a sump is unnecessary.

Patrick

To answer your question on the shrimp I have been thinking of is a Sclarett Skunk, my friend has one at its a lot of fun to watch. But like I said, it's a while off so I havent done much research yet.

Great advice. Thank you!

I'll start one right now as a matter of fact

I haven't started looking into the type of shrimp I wanted yet because it will still be a while until my water is ready for one. Yes though, my biocube does have 3 compartments in the back; one with filter, the other with bioballs and the last has the actual pump.

Hello!

I am a fellow San Marconian and am also new to the hobby (in the process of converting a freshwater to saltwater), so I probably can't help. But it's good to see San Marcos peeps in here!

Hi, I live in San Marcos and have a 14g freshwater biocube that I am planning on converting to saltwater; I was hoping I could get some advice here. So I will be posting again soon.

My plans for it, after it has been cycled of course, are to start with a few mexican turbo or nerite snails and 1 or 2 shrimp, bring in some emerald crabs then eventually an anemone and a pair of clowns. Not to mention corals because I still have no idea what I want when it comes to them.

What are yall's thoughts on over crowding? I would be wiling to make an additional 5 gal sump to hide in my stand if yall think it could be too much life for a 14g.